Bernd Korz has announced that the Zeta development team and Magnussoft are parting ways [German]. The team and Bernd will continue to develop Zeta, and the service pack (Zeta v1.51) will still be released in the coming weeks.

Those developers ought to reconsider what project they work on. Yes, I'm sure there are some talented people there, but their morality should "kick in" and they should quit working for a person/company that has such questionable ethics. My comment did not address people who are not currently involved with Zeta, so "past" developers are not being insulting/slammed in any way.

Here's a (VERY) exaggerated example of the same kind of thing. There were LOTS of smart/good Nazis. Most of them were ignorant of what was really going on. However, they all had a duty (once they realized the evilness) to stop doing what they were doing. Unfortunately, they did not, hence we had a war - in which many (innocent) died and a country was reduced to shambles, all needlessly.

Developers working under Bernd can claim "ignorance" to a point, but if they don't know by now how terribly things have been run and the kind of ethically questionable ways Zeta has been pushed, not to mention the questionable legality of the whole operation - then they must be living under a rock. They *should* know better, and they *should* stop dealing with such a terribly run organization/person.

As I said, I'm sure there are bright folks doing development for Zeta. They ought to find a good company to work for (doing whatever), get better paying/far more stable jobs, and work with Haiku (as it's quite OBVIOUSLY the future direction of BeOS - not Zeta.) Obviously I am not in a position to tell them what to do - but I am in a position to judge them based on MY moral values/ethical standards, based on what they choose to do. Continuing to work for Bernd/participate in his scams/etc puts them in the "poopoo" bin as far as I'm concerned.

Let me make VERY clear that on the OSNews comments' sections, absolutely NO comparison will EVER be drawn between person/company/product xyz and the Nazis/3e Reich, or whatever. This is OUT OF LINE, no matter how innocent the comparison may be. End of story.

I've got some more questions. Bernd slid away with a piece of paper that granted some "rights" he's been very vague to define, and the provenance of the source hasn't been confirmed. Not only that, but Yellowtab went down after swallowing several million Euros. What is the exact wording of the contract, where did the source come from, and where did the Yellowtab money go?

OS News is ways out of line with the reality of copyright law. Copyright explicity forbids any derived work (a new creation) from being distributed by a third party. While I'm sympathetic to BeOS Max, it is illegal. No grey areas. No fudging. Period.

On these issues OS News journalistic and legal integrity is hazy, and no amount of shouting from Thom or fanboy style reportage can hide that. In any case, as a potential customer, I have my doubts about Zeta's legitimacy and the owners ability to manage Zeta in a sound way that inspires personal or business confidence. Once that confidence is broken it's up to Zeta to prove itself. Where's the proof?

Those developers ought to reconsider what project they work on. Yes, I'm sure there are some talented people there, but their morality should "kick in" and they should quit working for a person/company that has such questionable ethics.

Why would a ZETA developer go to his/herself "Oh no, ormandj does not approve! Time for change of employer." I'm hardly the world's largest ZETA fan, but I don't see the point of crapping on them if you have nothing to say beyond vague indictments-by-implication.

Here's a (VERY) exaggerated example of the same kind of thing. There were LOTS of smart/good Nazis.

...what the EFF?

I'm going to display some restraint and not comment on the above quote, or the rest of your post, other than to mention that the phrase "jaw-droppingly sophomoric" comes to mind. And that's the about mildest characterization I could make.

If ever there were a situation where it was justified to invoke "Godwin's Law"...